Our Sunday 8:30 a.m. worship uses the heritage of the past to speak to us and invites us to use our voices and hearts to offer praise for all that God has done. Our worship uses the old hymns and images from scripture to remind us of the stories of faith, and to keep us grounded in God’s promises and word. Communion is served every week.
Our 10:30 a.m. service uses more contemporary images and music to reflect God’s love for us and our response of praise. The music is upbeat, visual images and sounds are incorporated into the service, and many individuals assist in leading worship. Many families with children attend and the children are a big part of this service. For the younger children, a nursery is provided. For the older children, there is a separate children's church during the sermon time of the service. Communion is served each Sunday.
The Lord’s Supper is God’s meal and we are the invited guests. We believe in an open table which means you are invited to come and receive from God what God has promised. We believe that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine even though the bread and wine does not actually change. Through our trust in Jesus’ words “This is my body and this is my blood”, we receive the forgiveness of our sin and new life in Jesus. We leave it up to the parents if their child(ren) should receive; if they choose not to, they are invited to come forward for the Pastor's blessing.
Hope serves communion every Sunday at both service times.
Baptism is the individual entering into the life of Christ, through dying in the water and being raised by God to a new life. Baptism is also entering into the Christian community. We believe baptism is God’s work in us and not work we do to please or win God’s love. We do not baptize into Hope or even the Lutheran Church, but into the Christian community wherever it is found. We recognize all Christian baptism and welcome individuals from all backgrounds.
The Season of Lent
The word "Lent" comes from an old English word that means "to lengthen", and it names the time of year when the days begin to get longer. After the cold, dark, and often dismal months of the year come signs of renewal. As people begin to feel renewed and recreated again following their hibernation during the long days of winter; even so the church stirs into action of renewal in the season of Lent.
Two concerns drive the Lenten season. Lent is driven by our need for renewal in both mind and spirit. The former need gives the season a teaching dynamic; the latter need, a repentance dynamic. The two themes of Lent come together in various ways. To be led where God's glory flashes out is to undergo both repentance and training in the school of prayer. We turn around to face the Holy One and, having confronted God's majesty and mercy, we then examine the mystery of God. This mystery leads to the profundity of the cross and the exaltation of the resurrection.
So this Lenten season we will walk the journey of spiritual renewal, taking with us the disciplines of prayer, scripture reading, worship, serving and leading and giving of oneself. These disciplines will aid us on our journey and prepare us for the wondrous event of Easter morning--an empty tomb.
The mysterious transaction between God and world that takes place on the cross is beyond our comprehension. The cross is eternal and central to our Lenten journey. Let us lift high the Cross and begin our journey together.
We invite you to come experience and discover with us how God is working in your life.
